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Published Feb 27, 2021
Preview: Washington State at ASU
Erik Pierson
Staff Writer

Fresh off its sweep of UW, Arizona State (9-11 overall, 6-8 conference) is back in action this weekend in a pivotal series against Washington State.

The Sun Devils will play the Cougars twice in a three-day span, with both games taking place at Desert Financial Arena.

The first matchup, which will be held on Saturday night, was already part of ASU’s regular schedule.

The first matchup, which will be held on Saturday night, was already a part of ASU’s regular schedule. Saturday’s contest will also serve as ASU’s senior night, and the Sun Devils will honor Remy Martin, Kimani Lawrence, Alonzo Verge Jr. and Imran Takhar.

The second matchup, which will occur on Monday afternoon is the makeup game for the contest that was originally scheduled to be played in Pullman on Dec. 31, but was postponed due to COVID issues within the Sun Devil program.

For ASU, they hope to build on the momentum gained from back-to-back wins against UW.

The Sun Devils walloped the Huskies by 33 on Tuesday night and pulled away in the final minute of Thursday’s game to escape with an 8-point win.

In both contests, the Sun Devils were propelled to victory by its senior duo of Remy Martin and Kimani Lawrence.

Martin had a season-high 31 points in Thursday’s win, which also marked the seventh-straight game that he scored 20 or more. He’s closing in on the program record of eight consecutive 20-point games, which is held by Eddie House (1999-2000 season).

However, as good as Martin was, he was upstaged by Lawrence, who had his second straight double-double with 21 points and 20 rebounds. Lawrence became only the sixth player in ASU history to record a 20-20 game, and the first since 1997, when Mike Batiste accomplished the feat.

“From our standpoint, I think it goes without saying who the star was tonight,” Bobby Hurley said in Thursday’s postgame press conference.

“Kimani Lawrence just (did) unbelievable work. Rebounding and scoring it. Making his free throws to put us up four. Just an outstanding game. He was everywhere. He was all over the court.”

Over the course of his four-year career in Tempe, Lawrence has been somewhat of an enigma.

At times, the former four-star recruit has looked like an all-conference player. Other times, however, he’s tended to disappear in games, to the point of being a non-factor. Lawrence’s talent has never been in question, but inconsistency and confidence issues have prevented him from reaching his full potential.

So it’s been validating for Hurley to see the senior forward play the best basketball of his career the last few weeks, especially at a time when the short-handed Sun Devils desperately needed his production.

“I’m really proud of him and the way he’s performed,” Hurley said of Lawrence’s recent play. “You know when we’ve had all these guys out, and he’s really taken his game to a different place, and it’s been very exciting and rewarding, as a coach, to watch him play at that level.”

As a team, ASU also seems to be trending in the right direction as the regular season draws to an end. The Sun Devils have won five of its last eight games, and perhaps more importantly, they appear to be more connected as a group, playing with purpose and energy in recent weeks.

“This team has been a really fun team to coach the last two weeks,” Hurley explained.

Note: As of Saturday morning, ASU had not provided an update on the handful of players who missed Thursday’s game: Marcus Bagley (ankle), Taeshon Cherry (personal reasons), Josh Christopher (back), Pavlo Dziuba (COVID), and Jaelen House (back).

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Washington State (14-11 overall, 7-11 conference) enters the series on the heels of a 69-53 loss at Arizona on Thursday night. The output was a season-low for the Cougars, who shot only 31.7 percent from the floor, including 7-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Thursday’s loss continues a season-long trend for Washington State, who has struggled on the offensive end of the floor. In fact, the Cougars have the second-worst offensive efficiency ranking in the Pac-12, according to KenPom.

It certainly doesn’t help that Washington State has been the Pac-12’s worst shooting (41.1 percent) and most turnover-prone (15.2 per game) team in league play.

The Cougars’ offense struggles, however, are offset by the team’s stingy defense and rebounding prowess.

Washington State quietly boasts a top-50 defense nationally. And thanks to the size and athleticism of its frontcourt, the Cougars are also one of the better rebounding teams in the conference – only USC and Arizona average more rebounds per game.

Led by second-year head coach Kyle Smith, the rebuild of Washington State’s program is well ahead of schedule. Prior to Smith’s hire, the Cougars had seven consecutive losing seasons.

However, Washington State ended that streak last season with a 14-14 overall record, and are on pace to finish at least .500 again this season.

Much of the team’s success this season stems from its dynamic backcourt of Isaac Bonton and Noah Williams.

Bonton, a senior, ranks third among Pac-12 players in scoring (17.7 per game), sixth in assists (4.0), and second in steals (1.9). However, he is coming off an ankle injury that recently forced him to miss three games. He returned to the Cougar lineup in Thursday’s loss at Arizona but didn’t appear to be 100 percent, tallying only 3 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Bonton is expected to assume his role as the team’s starting point in this weekend’s games against ASU.

While Bonton was sidelined, Williams almost single-handedly carried Washington State to wins over Cal and Stanford last week. The sophomore guard averaged 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in the two games, en route to earning Pac-12 and National Player of the Week honors. Williams came back down to earth in Thursday’s loss, however, scoring 8 points on 2-of-15 shooting from the floor.

In the frontcourt, Washington State leans heavily on freshman Efe Abogidi. The Nigerian native has had an impressive rookie season averaging 9.1 points and team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-10 center, who is one of the most athletic players in the conference, has been a force on both ends of the floor.

The Cougars’ starting five is rounded out by a pair of 6-foot-8 Euro forwards in Andrej Jakimovski and Aljaz Kunc.

Jakimovski, who hails from Macedonia, has had a solid freshman campaign this year. He doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well (32 percent), but he adds versatility and toughness to the Cougar frontcourt.

Kunc, a native of Slovenia, is known for his high basketball IQ, ball handling ability, and three-point shooting (37 percent). The junior wing, who has played three years of Division-I basketball, is also the most experienced player on a young Washington State team.

The Cougars have a solid second unit, and coach Smith is comfortable using as many as 10 players on any given night, with a bulk of the bench minutes going to sophomore wings DJ Rodman (5.6 PPG) and Ryan Rapp (3.8 PPG), and freshman center Dishon Jackson (6.8 PPG). Freshman guard TJ Bamba and sophomore center Volodymyr Markovetskyy round out the rotation.

Probable Starters:

ASU

G Remy Martin, 6-0, Sr. (21.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.9 APG)

G Holland Woods, 6-1, Sr. (6.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.9 APG)

G Alonzo Verge, 6-3, Sr. (13.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.8 APG)

F Kimani Lawrence, 6-8, Sr. (7.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.6 APG)

F Jalen Graham, 6-9, Jr. (7.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.6 BPG)

Washington State

G Isaac Bonton, 6-3, Sr. (17.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.0 APG)

G Noah Williams, 6-5, So. (14.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 39.7% 3PT)

F Aljaz Kunc, 6-8, Jr. (6.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 36.5% 3PT)

F Andrej Jakimovski, 6-8, Fr. (6.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 APG)

C Efe Abogidi, 6-10, Fr. (9.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.4 BPG)

Key Stat: Washington State is 10-0 when they hold opponents to 62 points or fewer, and only 4-11 when opponents exceed 62 points.

X-Factor: Can Remy Martin keep up this torrid pace? Martin has arguably been the hottest player in college basketball over the last few weeks. In his last seven games, the senior guard is averaging an eye-popping 26.9 points and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 22-of-51 (43.1%) from three-point range.

Prediction: ASU & Washington State split the series.

Game Info:

Saturday, Feb. 27

Time: 7:00 pm MST

Where: Desert Financial Arena – Tempe, Ariz.

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks / 98.7 FM

Monday, March 1

Time: 1:00 pm MST

Where: Desert Financial Arena – Tempe, Ariz.

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks / 620 AM

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